Wearable repetitive behavior awareness device and method

Abstract

The present disclosure relates generally to an awareness enhancement apparatus and method for undesirable repeated behaviors, including but not limited to obsessive compulsive and related disorders, and most relevant to trichotillomania (hair pulling), onychophagia (nail biting), dermatillomania (skin picking), and thumb sucking, among others. More particularly, the disclosure relates to a sensing and feedback device and associated methods of use which indicate a behavior based on the user's physical gestures and positioning of the hands, these gestures and positions being related to these undesirable behaviors typical of such disorders, and alerting the user so that he or she can reduce the behavior.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A wearable repetitive behavior awareness device comprising:
 a band;   a power source;   one or more sensors comprising:
 an inertial measurement unit (IMU) comprising an accelerometer and gyroscope, and 
 a piezo-electric force sensor configured to detect digit motion; 
   a memory comprising instructions for operation of the one or more sensors; and   a processor in communication with the memory and the one or more sensors, the processor configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory to detect a localized repetitive behavior by having a user repeat the behavior while the device is in a training mode in which the device stores an electronic representation of the behavior in the memory, and subsequently monitors the user to determine if the localized repetitive behavior is present.   
     
     
         2 . The wearable repetitive behavior awareness device of  claim 1 , wherein the piezo-electric force sensor is a thin film sensor. 
     
     
         3 . The wearable repetitive behavior awareness device of  claim 1 , wherein the band is a wristband. 
     
     
         4 . The wearable repetitive behavior awareness device of  claim 3 , wherein the one or more sensors further comprise near-infrared spectroscopy elements oriented on an underside of the user's wrist and configured to detect wrist tendon location. 
     
     
         5 . The wearable repetitive behavior awareness device of  claim 3 , wherein the device is a first repetitive behavior awareness device; and
 the first repetitive behavior awareness device in communication with a second wearable repetitive behavior awareness device.   
     
     
         6 . The wearable repetitive behavior awareness device of  claim 1 , wherein the band is a ring. 
     
     
         7 . The wearable repetitive behavior awareness device of  claim 1 , wherein the IMU further comprises a magnetometer. 
     
     
         8 . The wearable repetitive behavior awareness device of  claim 1 , wherein the IMU further comprises one or more biofeedback sensors configured to measure one or more of heart rate, skin electrical activity, and other physiological activity. 
     
     
         9 . The wearable repetitive behavior awareness device of  claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to distinguish between the localized repetitive behavior and other benign activities. 
     
     
         10 . The wearable repetitive behavior awareness device of  claim 1 , wherein the localized repetitive behavior is associated with when the user is smoking. 
     
     
         11 . The wearable repetitive behavior awareness device of  claim 1 , wherein the localized repetitive behavior is associated with when the user is eating. 
     
     
         12 . The wearable repetitive behavior awareness device of  claim 1 , wherein the localized repetitive behavior is associated with when the user is performing a body focused repetitive behavior. 
     
     
         13 . The wearable repetitive behavior awareness device of  claim 1 , further comprising a radio frequency transmitter and a radio frequency receiver providing communication between the processor and a remote application. 
     
     
         14 . The wearable repetitive behavior awareness device of  claim 1 , further comprising an alert element. 
     
     
         15 . The wearable repetitive behavior awareness device of  claim 14 , wherein the alert element generates one or more of a haptic alert, an auditory alert, or a visible alert. 
     
     
         16 . The wearable repetitive behavior awareness device of  claim 14 , wherein the processor is further configured to override the alert when the processor determines that the user is performing a benign movement that mimics the localized repetitive behavior. 
     
     
         17 . A system for providing repetitive behavior awareness, comprising:
 a first behavior awareness device comprising:
 a processor, 
 a memory, and 
 sensors for detecting user movements and comprising:
 an inertial measurement unit (IMU) comprising an accelerometer and a gyroscope, and 
 a piezo-electric force sensor configured to detect digit motion; and 
 
   a remote computing application interfaced with the first behavior awareness device and configured for storing information collected by the sensors and performing behavior tracking.   
     
     
         18 . The system for providing repetitive behavior awareness of  claim 17 , further comprising a second behavior awareness device interfaced with the first behavior aware device and the remote computing application. 
     
     
         19 . The system for providing repetitive behavior awareness of  claim 18 , wherein the first behavior awareness device is worn on a first wrist of a user and the second behavior awareness device is worn on a second wrist of the user. 
     
     
         20 . A repetitive behavior awareness method, comprising:
 providing a behavior awareness device comprising a computer processor, a computer memory, sensors for detecting user movements, wherein the sensors comprise an inertial measurement unit (IMU) comprising an accelerometer and gyroscope, and a piezo-electric force sensor configured to detect digit motion;   programing the device to detect a localized repetitive behavior, the localized repetitive behavior comprising the detected digit motion, by having a user repeat the behavior while the behavior awareness device is in a training mode in which the behavior awareness device stores an electronic representation of the localized repetitive behavior in the memory; and   monitoring a user with the behavior awareness device to determine if the programmed localized repetitive behavior is present by using an algorithm stored in the memory to compare user behavior to the localized repetitive behavior stored in the memory during training.